Time
by Sincerely HER
Summary: She kept running. "Ziva wait! There's-"


A/N: First story. Please review. Feel free to be harsh.

Disclaimer:

I do not own any of this. All of it belongs to CBS.

please enjoy.

She kept running.

There was no way she was going to let that stupid son of a bitch get away after what he did. She didn't mind if they got her. She didn't mind if they destroyed her car or her apartment. Those things could be replaced. But when they messed with her NCIS family, she thought of it as-how you say?-the last straw.

"Ziva, wait! There's-"

She jumped over another fence and chased him further down the dimly lit street. She had taken down his friend easily. It was just the two of them now. She could hear voices behind her telling her to slow down, to wait for backup. But they didn't understand. They didn't see this man throw Tony like a rag doll against a brick wall. They didn't hear the sickening crunch when he landed harshly on the wet cement, his body limp and bleeding. They didn't see him almost die right before their eyes with nothing to do except wait for help and comfort him with words he probably couldn't even hear. And though she knows he is fully recovered, she will never forget that horrible day. She promised herself that no matter what, she would find that man. She would find him, then she would kill him.

She kept running. The voices of Tony, McGee and Gibbs drowned out by the steady sound of her feet hitting the pavement. As they neared the harbor, she couldn't help but wonder what he had in mind. She was a trained assassin. That would be a little bit more of a threat if she had her gun with her, but seriously?

She could hear him now. His shallow breathing and heavier footsteps let her know he was tiring. She smirked knowing that tired people made mistakes. She slowed her pace and made her breathing sound laborious as well. She continued her pursuit until he suddenly halted. He turned around slowly with a sick grin plastered on his face.

That's when she made her move. With the skill and speed of what Tony would call a "ninja", she lunged forward with a fatal swing to his throat. He twitched once and she could have sworn a knowing smile crossed his face before he collapsed dead to the ground.

Breathing heavily, she wiped the sweat off her face and spit on the cement getting rid of the dry taste in her mouth.

She heard him half a second before he struck. She heard the wind from the speed of his swing and cursed herself for being so foolish. She fell hard onto the ground, her vision blurring. Her legs did not move when she told them to and her head was pounding. When he placed the brown sack over her head, her heart started beating furiously. She felt her legs and hands being bound and tried her best not to panic.

"Thought you got rid of me back there didn't you David? Didn't Gibbs ever tell you to double check? Isn't that one of his rules?"

The voice of the ex-director of NCIS made her stomach heave. She refused to talk, refused to give him the satisfaction of her scared voice pleading for him to let her go. Vance picked her up and started running swiftly towards the harbor.

Oh shit.

She started struggling, screaming anything for her team to hear her. To hell with Vance. She was terrified of those icy waters. Of course, how could she have been so stupid? She should have known to check twice. As a wanted traitor who had been giving them the slip for the past eight months, Vance knew a thing or two about deceiving people. He had hired a hit man to kill everyone on Gibbs' team after the investigation of a dead marine had lead them to his corruption. For a year he had been selling top secret U.S. military strategies to the highest enemy bidders. One of his buddies had failed to make a delivery on time and got himself killed for it.

Tony was Vance's first target. He had almost succeeded. Had Abby not noticed Tony's cell phone cut off suddenly while tracking him and Ziva, Tony would be a dead man. Ever since they had been searching for him all over the country.

Ziva felt a moment of weightlessness before the cold waters trapped the air in her lungs. Already her body was becoming numb. That, on top of exhaustion made her tire quickly. She was at least thankful that death would be quick. And she was confident thy Gibbs and the team would catch Vance. As she started to drift into unconsciousness, she heard a faint sharp rumble.

A second later she was ripped out of the freezing water. A pair of strong arms wrapped around her body and pulled her safely to land. She was vaguely aware of what sounded like Tony's voice calling her name. She didn't want to wake up though. She was so tired. She was just drifting off to sleep when she was shaken violently by a new pair of arms.

"Tony move! Your getting her more wet! Come on Ziver, wake up!"

When she opened her eyes she was greeted with a huge smile and a hug from Gibbs.

"What happened to Vance?" she asked as if nothing had happened.

His smile quickly faded.

"Tony shot him in the leg. He wont be getting up anytime soon. Never do anything so stupid like that again! You hear?" he ended the last part just below a yell.

Ziva smiled knowing that was Gibbs' way of saying he cared. She shook her head yes and he moved out of her vision. A few seconds later she heard him yelling into his cell phone for an ambulance.

She was then met with a pair of green eyes. She almost laughed at the pitiful look on Tony's face.

"Wow Sweetcheeks, that was almost worse than that bomb incident," he said with a smile. She could hear the barely concealed shaking in his voice. She wasn't sure if he was scared, angry, or just cold.

"I am fine Tony."

He took he into his arms and tried to share his body heat. He cradled her head and was careful to not move her legs too much.

"Really? Because it looks to me like you almost drowned! Not many people are fine after an ordeal like that!"

Yes. Definitely anger.

"Tony, I am cold, wet, my legs are broken and I am in pain. I'm not fine but I will live. Now stop it!" she said right back.

He stared at her for what seemed like eternity.

"Damn it Ziva!"

He leaned in and kissed her roughly on the lips. It was quick, lasting only a second

before he pulled away with a more gentle expression.

"Please don't ever do that again. I thought I'd lost you, " he whispered softly into her ear.

She smiled at him and gave him a soft peck on the cheek.

"I love you too, Tony".

"If you two are done, the ambulance is here to see to Ziva," Gibbs stated loudly making

Tony jump.

McGee took Ziva carefully into his arms smiling and carried her to the waiting paramedics.

Tony watched on with concern and was then aware of Gibbs' eyes burning holes onto the back of his head.

"What boss? Her lips were cold! And blue isn't really her color..."

Gibbs smiled and gave him a gentle headslap.

"Whatever Dinozzo. Get a towel to dry off. Then you can go see about her," he said.

"On it boss!" Tony ran off in search of a towel.

Gibbs smiled. It was about time.

"No Tony I will NOT be warmer if I take off my clothes and swuggle next to you!"

"The word is 'snuggle' Sweetcheeks and that's not even what I was implying! Ow!"

Yep. About time.


End file.
